The invention relates to nursing home devices, particularly those useful in facilitating assistance of invalid persons with day to day hygiene functions.
Many invalid persons suffer from incapacities of a nature which require the continuous assistance of a nurse or relative but do not pose the sort of medical concerns requiring continuous professional care or confinement to an institution. Many of these invalids are not able to walk or support themselves in an upright position. As such, it normally requires two or more persons to assist them with bowel movements, scrub bathing, and baths or showers. The ability to support the invalid in an upright position, while leaving both hands free to work with the invalid, would permit such an invalid to be adequately attended by one person.
A number of devices exist to provide invalid lifting and moving. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,516,553, issued to Cole on Dec. 29, 1986. It comprises a frame on casters equipped with an overhead member and a harness, which is in communication with a power or manual winch through a pulley guided cable. With this device a patient is lifted out of a wheelchair or bed and moved from one place to another by rolling the device on its casters.
Another such device is U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,122, issued to Sanders, et al. on Jul. 23, 1985, which discloses, generally, a body sling attached to two rigid supports, such supports being affixed to a pivotal overhead member. By rotating the overhead member, the patient may be lifted or supported in a variety of positions from the bed or wheelchair upon which the apparatus is mounted. As in Cole the lifting of the patient may be accomplished via power assists from a motor-driven or hand crank winch-type device.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,103,436, issued to Root on Jul. 14, 1914, discloses another patient lift device. It comprises a body sling raised or lowered by cable and pulley from an overhead member. The patient is raised or lowered in a sitting position, again with power assistance from a winch-type mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 885,307, issued to Whaley on Apr. 21, 1908, teaches a tripod for permanent installation over a patient's bed. It permits a patient to be lifted up from the bed or supported in the upright position. Because of its dependence on permanent attachments to the bed, it does not have the potential to assist an invalid in other locations.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,059,815, issued to Belles on Apr. 22, 1918, teaches a four legged frame, on casters, with a suspending horizontal arc and a full body harness. It permits a patient to be winched up from a bed and rolled to a desired location on casters. Because of its bulk, the device taught in Belles could not be used in small areas.
There have been a number of other devices, disclosed for assisting in the movement and handling of invalids. To date however, each such device comprises a relatively elaborate structure and is equipped to lift or stabilize a patient in a given orientation. These devices do not have the simplicity, versatility, or maneuverability required for a variety of hygiene functions and location. What is needed is a simple device enabling one person to quickly support the invalid in a desired position. It would also be helpful to have such a device which can be moved to a variety of desired locations.